Priscilla Shirer: Hearing God's Voice

[Applause] you know feel free to take your seat you know in Matthew 17 the three the three close-knit disciples to Jesus Matthew James and John and Peter they were they were with Jesus and they had this encounter with Jesus where Jesus was transfigured before them he revealed some of his glory like took a little bit of his jacket off so that his glory shone through and they saw it and in that holy moment of being in the presence of God just like we have been in the presence of God God the Father burst through the heavens he speaks in that moment when their eyes were open and they were stunned and disbelief as they saw the very glory of Jesus Christ revealed right before their eyes God the Father speaks and of all the things he could have chosen to say in this holy moment before Peter James and John he says this is my beloved son listen to him he didn't say talk to him he didn't say inquire of him he didn't even say serve him he said listen to me yeah and I just wondered tonight in this holy moment as he has kind of took a little bit little bit of its jacket off and we've beheld as glory and the presence of God is here you know there are those times where you know God's presence is there there are those those other times like we have tonight where you can feel the presence of God I'm talking about where the hair on the back of your neck stands up anybody else know what I'm talking about where your physical body responds to the presence of God in the house and of all the things that we could do in all the ways that we could most honor God in a moment like that it's to listen to him to open up our ears and hear what the Spirit wants to say to the church and so I believe that in this holy moment tonight that if we'll all lean in he'll speak to us tonight to his word in fact I want to talk to you tonight about that very real discipline in the Cris can faith and that is opening our spiritual ears to hear the voice of God that it's one of the privileges y'all that we have in our relationship with him no other so-called God little G is alive anybody that worships any other so-called God they can go to a museum and visit his body they can go and see a statue up on a hill but I'm so glad that when I was able to visit Israel and I walk to the place where they believed his body was laid there's a sign on the door that says he is not here he is not here I can't tell you how glad I was that there was nothing for me to see that our God is alive and he lives so that we can hear his voice so that we can have relationship with him so that when he speaks we as believers can hear the voice of God and I want you to leave tonight knowing that not only does he care about all of the details of your life the things you're trying to make decisions on right now you're wondering what's God's will for your life I think the reason why he's come to us and such fullness this evening why he's revealed a bit of his glory to us is so that more than anything you will be able to begin to hear and discern the voice of God in your regular everyday life so that somebody's gonna walk out of here knowing what God's will is for their life Lord Jesus thank you so much for your word thank you that you have allowed us the privilege as your children to hear your voice Lord would you now through this very simple practical message would you teach us how to hear you teach us how to discern you're leading in our lives Lord we like Peter James and John what to see is glory and then we want to respond in obedience to your command to listen to him in Jesus name all God's people said amen I have an older sister Crystal's my older sister and she was the first grandchild on either side of the family for my grandparents she was the first grandbaby and so you know how it is grandparents with the first grandbaby and so I remember when I was growing up that my grand mother on my father's side would gather up this big ol box of stuff that she would get together to send for Crystal to Crystal for Christmas and so this big old box of stuff would come it had crystals name on it was tied with a big ol bow and I remember being a little girl and standing off to the side while crystal would unwrap this box of stuff and she'd open it up and there'd be all these beautiful little things that had been specially hand-picked for her you know none of this stuff that that you know skinny jeans or little tennis shoes uh-huh we're talking about the big hoop skirts that little girl used little girls used to wear with the lace at the bottom Laura the patent leather shoes white and black anybody know what I'm talking about the little shocks with lace around the bottom of the socks that's the stuff that was in this box for Krystal and IRA and I know what my grandmother's intention was her intention was that she was gonna send all these clothes in the bigger size and that all the subsequent 12 children could wear them as well and so I'd even dig in with Krystal and I'd pull out all the stuff from the box and we owe and all over all of the gifts that had been specifically chosen in her size and with her name on it and I celebrated those gifts I didn't mind hand-me-downs because I knew at some point she was gonna grow out all that stuff and it would all be mine but I don't know what happened but I must have just been a little bit older on one occasion because I very clearly remember that big old box coming with Crystal's name on it all that stuff inside that had been specifically chosen in her size and with her specifically in mind and I must have just been a little bit more mature on that year because I stood back and I remember I didn't feel good about it anymore I remember not being particularly happy because even though I knew that I was going to get the hand-me-downs in the second-hand clothes all of a sudden for some reason I had matured enough that that what I wanted was a box to come specifically for me I wanted a box with my name on it I wanted stuff inside that had been specifically chosen with me in mind there oughta come a time in our relationship with Jesus Christ were hand-me-down revelation about God spoon-fed to us from somebody else is no longer enough where we celebrate the fact that God has given us leaders and teachers and speakers that help us to rightly discern the the Word of God but but there ought to be an unsettledness in your spirit where at some point you say you know what I appreciate God's general word but what I want is the box to come with my name on it I want a specific word straight from God for me I want to know what job he wants me to take I want to know which person he wants me to marry I want to know what part of the city he wants me to live on I want God's specific word and revelation for me and the privilege that you and I have it should not be handicapped as believers to where we can only hear God's Word when somebody else is spoon feeding it to us but where we because of the Holy Spirit that lives individually on the inside of each and every one of us where our spiritual ears are open and tuned in to hearing the voice of God do you understand that the people that you and I admire in the face of folks that I so love to listen to teacher or read their books or I listen to him on the radio or they feed me because of their own relationship with the Lord we've got this bad y'all that some kind of way we've begun to put them up on this pedestal and we feel like they've got a relationship with God that we're not privy to anybody ever felt like that other than me that we just feel like they've got this special hotline connection with God where they're able to get revelation that we're not able to have access to but but do you understand that the same Holy Spirit that lives in them is the exact same Holy Spirit that lives on the inside of you and I God doesn't play favorites my friend in fact you are his favorite and you have the privilege I have the privilege to hear the voice of God there is no better passage in scripture that reminds us about this privilege that we have to individually specifically hear the voice of God than in John chapter 10 in John chapter 10 I'm gonna read to you the first five verses of John chapter 10 and then I'm gonna jump down to verse 27 and I'm gonna camp out in verse 27 because I just want to share with you four little simple principles about hearing the voice of God because I think if we can inscribe these on our heart you know we're gonna leave out of here knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt never doubting again that we can hear God's leading in our lives John chapter 10 verse 1 through 5 says this truly truly I say to you he who does not enter by the door into the folds of the sheep but climbs up some other way he is a thief and a robber but he who enters by the door is the Shepherd of the sheep to him the doorkeeper opens and the sheep hear his voice and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out verse 4 when he puts forth all of his own sheep he goes before them and the Sheep follow him because they know his voice verse 5 a stranger they simply will not follow but they will flee from him because they do not know the voice of a stranger and then verse 27 listen to this my sheep hear my voice I know them and they follow me listen to that one again because it's one line but it's packed with a whole bunch of good stuff we're gonna dig into for a little while tonight he says my sheep what they do is hear my voice I know them I know my sheep and they follow me now you and I oftentimes when we read passages of Scripture like this we can miss out on some of the the juicy details that are unwrapped in in of the specifics of of what Jesus might have been talking about because oftentimes Jesus would use terminology and context that we're not familiar with he talked in terms of soil or grapes or wheat or sheep and we have no context for that and so if you and I can just step back a little bit culturally if we can just figure out what this context of the sheep and the Shepherd's relationship look like back in Jesus's day then it's going to give us insight into exactly what our relationship looks like with Jesus Christ even right now as we've discerned his leading in our lives there are four things that I will point out to you in this passage the fact that we are his sheep that we can hear his voice that he knows us and that we can follow him there are four things a relationship a result of that relationship a reason and a response to that relationship the relationship he says my sheep are the ones who hear my voice in the Middle Eastern sheep fold in Jesus's day shepherding looked a little bit different like it might then it might today let's say there were ten shepherds each of them could have upwards of 100 sheep in their fold and they would tend their flock all throughout the day and then when evening came all ten of these shepherds would take all of their flocks to one fold to stay for the night the sheepfold was a broad vast area of land and it had a stone wall that went all the way around to enclose the fold there was one entrance to the sheepfold one opening to the sheepfold and it did not have a gate there was no door it was just an opening so all ten of these Shepherds with 100 apiece would take all of these sheep and would herd them into the sheepfold and then of the ten Shepherds nine of them would go back into the city to stay for the night one of them would stay behind and he would become what was called the porter for the sheepfold in other words he would be the door of the sheepfold he would literally lay his body across the opening of the sheepfold and be the protector for the 1,000 sheep that were on the inside he was the gate he was the door he would lay his body across the door all across the gate all night long so as to protect them from from harm and in the morning the nine Shepherds they would return to claim their sheep when they returned that the porter that had stayed behind for the night he would see the Shepherd coming from the distance and he would recognize this Shepherd as one of the true Shepherd of love these flocks on the inside and only when he recognized the Shepherd as a true Shepherd of one of these flocks he would remove his body from the opening of the sheep fold and let that shepherd pass in and then listen that Shepherd would stand in the sheepfold and call his sheep of the 1,000 sheep that were in the Sheep vote only one hundred belonged to him he would call his sheep and his I knew his voice what mattered was not whether or not they were black sheep or white she it didn't matter whether they were tall sheep or short sheep it didn't matter if they were cheap sheep or highly priced sheep it didn't matter if they congregated with a little bit of sheep or congregated with a lot of she all that mattered was who they belong to I want to ask you a question tonight right on the onset of the message and then I'm gonna ask you again at the end do you belong to the Shepherd if you want to hear the voice of God you've got to be in a relationship with him and you do know there is only one way to have a relationship with God and that is through Jesus Christ and when you and I place faith in Jesus Christ we belong to him we are part of the family of God and we have the privilege to be able to hear and respond to the voice of God there are so many people that are telling us now in our day and age and in our culture that there are a myriad of different ways to have relationship with God and to hear the voice of God but there is only one way and it is through the man Jesus Christ are you one of his sheep you can be in the sheepfold and not be one of his there were 900 others that were also in the four walls of the fold but there was only a handful of them that actually had relationship with the shepherd placing faith in Jesus Christ is more than just attending church and being in the four walls it's more than just participating in ministry activities it's more than just being a good person all of those things are honorable but relationship only comes by placing faith in Jesus Christ and when you do you are now his and you have the privilege to hear the voice of God my family and I have our own secret language you and your family do too I remember when I was growing up in church maybe you know I sang in the choir the children's choir at my church and I would sit up in the choir and after we did our little song then we had to sit up there for the whole rest of the service you know and we're sitting behind the preacher in the announcements and all the other stuff that was taking place and we'd start you know chewing gum and passing notes and pokin each other and playing around up there and they in the choir loft and I remember that my mom she sat 2nd row middle section the entire time I was growing up and she didn't have to say anything to me I would just look down at her and she would give me the momma I anybody have a mama like mine there was a whole story that unraveled with just one eye because we have our own little secret language you have that too with your spouse your kids you can maybe look at them from afar and there's a whole story that unfolds just with one word or with one facial expression maybe you and your girlfriend are you and your friend y'all y'all were hanging out somewhere and you'll have this little inside joke that happened because of some incident that occurred while y'all were together and so now when you rehash that other people can be around you and you guys can be laughing and joking and you can even try to explain it to the people who are nearby about how it was the reason why it was so funny and engaging and they'll sit there and go oh no I don't get it cuz they're not a part of the family there's a secret language there is an ability to hear the voice of God that comes when you're a part of the family of God in fact Ephesians chapter 2 verse 19 and the amplified bible says this therefore you are no longer exiled Outsiders migrants aliens excluded from the rights of citizens but you now share citizenship with the Saints God's own people consecrated and set apart for himself you belong to God's own household you are part of the family of God when you place faith in Jesus Christ you now have access to every single one of the rights and privileges that come with being a part of his family it's a good deal to be a part of the family of God you can hear the voice of God Romans chapter 1 verse 20 tells us that general revelation is available for every human being on the face of the earth saved or unsaved it says that the invisible attributes of God are declared through the visible creation just by looking at the Stars the moon the Sun the mountains the horizon the oceans the beauty of all that has been created you have got to know there's got to be a god somewhere just because the it visible creation speaks of the glory of our invisible God right but if you're anything like me you want more than general revelation you're appreciate general revelation but what you want are some details you want to know God's will for your life you want him to give you direction 1st Corinthians 2:14 says that folks who are not spiritual in other words folks who are not Christians they can't understand this the truths from God's Spirit because they're not in relationship it says that all that stuff will sound like complete foolishness to them hearing God's voice is impossible for someone who has not yet been born of the Spirit into the family of God but when you're in relationship with him my sheep you can hear his voice when I was growing up we didn't have we couldn't watch a lot of television when I was growing up we could watch only one hour of television a week excluding the weekends during the week the school week we could only watch one hour of television it was probably the same hour of television I'm assuming over here in New Zealand that you might have been watching television as well because in uh in the States on Thursdays from 7 to 8 p.m. a cot The Cosby Show came on and then a different world do you remember a different world that yep so those two programs camp that was the only hour we could watch television in fact we didn't even have access to a lot of television in our home we had a couple of televisions but we didn't have cable we didn't have satellite we didn't have all the stations even available to us in our house so I remember when I moved out and I was on my own and I was getting ready to get married so I moved into my my very first real real apartment and the very first thing that I do did was call the cable man get over here as fast as you can and hook up whatever wires whatever you need to do to get me some channels up in here I'll never forget that also glorious day when the cable man showed up and he went into my bedroom he moved my armoire out from from against the wall he went behind the television and hooked up all the wires the cords whatever he attached to give me access to all the stations that were available then he put everything back in place came back from around the place where he was in the corner of my room gave me a remote control and said press the Guide button I pressed the menu the Guide button and I watched all these channel options that were now available to me I was stunned all of those channels had always been available to me they were there the frequency for those stations were all there I just didn't have the right hook up to pick up on them same thing is true in your relationship with the Lord God is always speaking my friend the fact that you can't hear him doesn't mean he's not speaking it's me it means you don't have the right hook up you're not tapped into divine frequency so that your spirit can pick up on hearing the voice of God you have spiritual you have physical senses I have physical senses we can smell and we can see and we can hear we can taste we can have physical senses with which we respond to and connect with the physical world do you know you have spiritual senses as well that you have spiritual eyes and spiritual ears in fact in the scriptures when it says he that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the church not referring to physical ears it's your spiritual ears it's the hook-up that you get the connection that you get when you place faith in Jesus Christ once you do that Ephesians chapter 1 verse 13 and 14 says the Holy Spirit takes up residence on the inside of you and the Holy Spirit is the hook-up the Holy Spirit is what allows you to tap in to divine frequency and hear the voice of God it's all in relationship he says my sheep there's the relationship hear my voice there's the results of the relationship he says once you're in relationship with me you should begin anticipate the result of our relationship he says the default position of anybody who's placed faith in Jesus Christ who has made a decision to be in the family of God who has then received the Holy Spirit of God as a gift a sealing gift of their faith he says for anybody that's one of my sheep you ought to begin to expect the results of your relationship it's automatic it's the default position of your relationship with God what his sheep do is hear his voice it's what they do aw Tozier is one of my favorites to read and to to just kind of ponder some of his thoughts and he said the one who does not expect that God will speak will discount every single time God does speak they'll say it was just their opinion or it was just a coincidence or it was just their own idea every single time God speaks unless you have an anticipation an eagerness an expectation that you can hear the voice of God every single time God shows up in your life you're going to discount it or ignore it or neglect it as something else other than the voice of God John 10:27 teaches us that the results of our relationship is that we oughta know we can hear the voice of God Deuteronomy 30 he said the Word of God is not so hard not so difficult to attain that you've got to send somebody else over the sea to find it for you were under the earth to find it for you he says the Word of God it's in your own heart it's right there God's voice for the sheep is able to be heard the results of your relationship is that you can hear the voice of God when you become a believer in Jesus Christ the Holy Spirit is giving you the Holy Spirit is not a ghost or a wind or a fire or a dove he's often symbolized by those things but that ain't who he is the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity not third because he's least in value just third because he's the last to be revealed to us in the pages of Scripture but all of the fullness all of the glory all of the greatness all of a grandeur all of the power of God the Father is in the person of the Holy Spirit and if you're a believer in Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit lives in you that means all of the power all of the greatness all the grandeur all of the authority of God the Father is on the inside of you the Holy Spirit takes up residence inside your human spirit and all things become new at the core of you your spirit is brand-spanking-new but there's still a problem your spirit is in your body in your flesh have you ever experienced the battle between your flesh and your spirit Romans chapter 7 Paul said the things that I want to do right I just won't do right I'm trying to do right I want to do right but my hands won't cooperate with me my seat won't cooperate with me my eyes my my ears my body just seems to be warring against the Spirit of God with enemy anybody know that battle other than me the Holy Spirit takes up residence we've got a brother back there that knows the battle and if the truth be told don't we all we sense this warring on the inside of us when we know the right thing to do we joyfully like Paul says concur with the law of God on the inner man but there's a different law that seems to be at work in the members of our body here's the work of the Holy Spirit the Holy Spirit of God he takes up residence on the inside of your spirit and then he begins the sanctification process 2nd Thessalonians chapter 1:13 says it's his job oh this takes such a load off your shoulders listen it's his job to conform you into the image of Christ Jesus let me tell you what this means it means that he starts tinkering with your soul he starts messing with you your soul your mind your will your emotions your conscience it's what you want what you think how you feel he gets damp down there on the inside of you and he doesn't just regenerate your spirit he doesn't just make you born-again what he starts to do is rest his mind on your dead rest his hand on your dead and mind your deaden feelings you're dead and conscious he shakes them awake from their spiritual slumber and he says come join me in honoring God so he causes you to want stuff you never used to want he causes you to think in a way you never used to think you used to have ambitions to do that but now all of a sudden for some reason you have ambitions to do this you never thought you would like this but now you do you never thought you would want this but now you do you never thought that you would be with those girlfriends and feel uncomfortable because of the jokes that they're telling the conversations they're having you never thought that you would sit in a movie like that you used to enjoy these kind of movies but all of a sudden that movie is bothering you because the Holy Spirit is on the inside of you messing with your soul the Holy Spirit will speak to you and then he will turn your conscience turn your mind your will and emotions until it begins to line up with the voice the will of God for your life so do you know why you don't have to worry about God's will because sometimes honestly let's be honest we're afraid for God to actually tell us what he wants us to do because when we said Lord I want to do whatever you want me to do in my life Lord I want to go wherever you want me to go we didn't mean lord send me to the backwoods of Nairobi Africa that's not what we meant mm-hmm we don't want to go to Siberia and be a missionary we don't like cold weather that's not where we want to go so we're afraid that if we literally say Lord whatever you want it will go against our desires and very often it will because we still live in the flesh we're still in a sin-sick world our flesh will always need to be conformed into the image of Jesus Christ we won't be perfect until we see him face to face but we can rest upon the fact that the Holy Spirit is in US and right now even in this moment my friend he is working on your soul conforming your desires to match up with what God wants with for you Psalm 34 14 he says you just delight yourself in me and I'm gonna give you the desires of your heart that does not mean he's going to give you what you want it means he's going to actually give you his desires so that by the time you get around to praying for what you want you're just actually praying back to God the desires he put in your heart in the first place so he can't help but answer because he's given you his own desires this is the work of the holy spirit to conform you into his image conform you in this image a part of your soul and I'm just spending a few moments here y'all don't mind do you okay a part of your soul is your conscience every human being has a conscience your soul is your mind will emotions and your conscience whether you're saved or unsaved you have a conscience you remember this is what your momma told you when you were a little girl or a teenager or a young man if you go somewhere my mom used to say to me if you go somewhere you end up with your friends and you just don't feel good about where you are you don't have to know why you don't feel good about it you don't have to see anything wrong with it if something in you just says this ain't good call me I'll come pick you up that's what she used to tell me what she was saying to me is you've got a conscience trust your conscience here's the deal though y'all the conscience is not the voice of God because your conscience has been determined the settings of your conscience have been determined by the way you were raised by what you were taught by the influences you had in your life your conscience could tell you something is right when the Bible actually says it's wrong your conscience could tell you something is wrong when the Bible says you have the freedom to do it so your conscience is not the voice of God but this is what happens when the Holy Spirit steps on the inside of you he used he says to your conscience come over here and work with me and helping her to know the voice of God because that human already knows what that gut level conscience feels like you know what your conscience feels like right when you've got that feeling on the inside of you that goes oh this ain't good or yeah I should do this it's just that inner feeling you already knows what know what that feels like it's like the microphone that's on the inside of you the Holy Spirit grabs the microphone of your convict conscience and says all right now let me tell you what God's will is for your life so now your conscience begins to steer you in the direction of God's will for your life John chapter 16 verse 13 it says when he the spirit of truth comes he will guide you into all truth now because your conscience and my conscience is constantly being sanctified it's not perfect thank the Lord that we have his word because his word are the ballots the boundaries into which God's words specific word to us will fall he'll never say anything to you or me that contradicts the book we'll always know whether or not we're hearing God because it will fall within the boundaries of God's Word to us do you know what we often wish at least I do sometimes I read about the Old Testament you know they had a cloud in the middle of the day of fire by night they had donkey speaking and stuff dreams and visions and prophets all over the place and sometimes you know that's what I want Lord if you want me to move to that side of town what I need is for a dove to descend from the heavens at noon tomorrow and rest on my shoulder and if it rests on my left shoulder that I know you want me to move here but if it rests on my right shoulder then I know you want me to go over there Lord I am waiting on a side can I get one witness in the house what we think is that the folks in the Old Testament had it better than us because they had these physical visible signs for God's direction and while God surely most surely gives clear visible direction even in our day and age the mercy of confirmation is what I call it when he will turn your circumstances or perform a miracle or do something visible to a confirm his word to you we oftentimes desire what the folks in the Old Testament have but listen the people in the Old Testament wish they had what we have the only reason they needed the signs and wonders is because they did not have the closed Canon of Scripture and the indwelling Holy Spirit that's why you find the psalmist praying please don't take your spirit from me because in the Old Testament the Spirit was only given to individuals for a specific task and if they sinned or when that task was over the Spirit of God left them I got good news for you today my friend that once you received the Holy Spirit of God there is nothing that anybody else can do or that you can do for the spirit of from your life that's good news which means that in our day and age we have the best possible way to hear the voice of God we don't have some second-rate option we've got the best way the the Spirit of God and the Word of God to lead us and guide us and so we got a relationship his sheep and the results of that relationship is that we ought to sit on the edge of our seat in anticipation of the fact that we can hear the voice of God there's a relationship there's a result and then there is a reason for all of us he says my sheep hear my voice and here's the reason I know them now I called up a friend of mine who works with sheep and cattle cuz I you know I don't know if he would tell by looking at me or not but I'm not really a sheep and cattle kind of girl so I called up this guy because he works with sheep and cattle and you know I wanted to ask his perspective on some of these details and I asked him about this business of knowing the sheep that verse says I the shepherd know the Sheep so I wanted to ask him about this very interesting because he said to me Priscilla I've got a lot of sheep but the the art the technique of knowing the sheep has been lost over time because it used to be in Jesus's day he told me that that that they would literally sit and spend hours upon hours days upon days weeks upon weeks months and years just getting to know the sheep and allowing the Sheikh to get to know them he says that's a lost art today because we don't we don't have time for that we don't make time for it now we've got helicopters to hurt our sheep we've got sheep dogs we've got electric fences we don't need to have intimate relationship anymore in order to get our sheep to do what we need them to do it's been a lost art over time it's interesting to me that it's been a lost art over time because aren't you glad that the changes in time the advances in technology hasn't changed our Shepherds desire to get to know us I want you to hear me he knows you in other words you don't have to be a Seminary graduate to hear the voice of God you don't have to be a preacher to hear the voice of God you don't have to be the worship leader to hear the voice of God you don't have to be biblically astute to hear the voice of God of course all of those things are honorable but my friend he knows you he knows whether you're just a fledgling believer or whether you've been walking with the Lord for a long time he knows how much scripture you're actually familiar with and and what growth level maturity level you're on in your relationship with the Lord he knows if you're hard-headed like me and he needs to say a few things several times in order for you to get that it's him speaking he knows you because you're one of his sheep and do you know that this friend of mine told me that the Shepherd's in Jesus's day knew the Sheep so well I mean if there were 100 of them he knew them individually so well and they knew him so personally that he could change the tone of his call just a little bit and call one sheep out of the flock that's intimacy the change in times has not changed our Shepherds desire to get to know us but if we're not careful the change in x is going to change our desire to get to know him the advances in modern technology praise the Lord for them but the busier we are the further away we get from spending time getting to know the voice of the Lord getting to know who he is a philosopher by the name of San Pasco said something that I want to read to you guys he said Christianity started out in Palestine that's the land of the Bible as a fellowship a relationship then it moved to Greece and became a philosophy a way you think then it moved to Rome and became an institution a place you go then it moved to Europe and became a culture a way of life then it moved to the rest of the world and became an enterprise a business now it's just what we do what if we took this back to what it was meant to be a relationship he died on the cross of Calvary shed his blood not to just give you a ticket to eternity if he would have just wanted us to be in heaven with him then that our relationship would have stopped there and listened that would have been enough for us to celebrate the rest of our lives goodness gracious the fact that he gave us a ticket to Eternity would have been enough for us to worship Him all of our days but if that might have been enough for us it wasn't enough for him he said oh no I want to be with them every single day of their lives so I am going to give them me in the person of the Holy Spirit so that I can walk with them and talk with them and have intimate fellowship with them do you think do you really think that he loved you enough to die for you but then doesn't love you enough to talk to you how can we say we have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ when there's no communication how personal can it actually be he died on the cross because he loved you and wanted to have a relationship with him with you he knows you the question is do you know him do you know well I've got a brother his name was Anthony his name is Anthony jr. because my father's name is Anthony senior folks call them both Tony sometimes Tony Evans senior and Tony Evans jr. my brother looks like my daddy he walks like my daddy he talks like my daddy he looks like a little version of my daddy I have seen my brother use this to his advantage on many occasions because I remember when we were in our teenage years somebody would call the house for my dad and because he sounded so much like my dad he answered the phone and say hello and the person thought they were talking to Tony Evans senior and so he would just sit there and listen and respond and get all the juicy details until the very end and then say well hang on let me go get my daddy for you all of us really are in ministry and so we all are on airplanes a lot and in Dallas our our hub airline is American Airlines in Dallas and so we have a lot of particularly my father has a lot of miles that he's accumulated on American Airlines so he's got like executive platinum status there are a lot of perks that comes with and come with that kind of status on American Airlines so Anthony jr. walked up to the counter one day and showed his license I mean it said Anthony Evans so they pulled up my father's file upgraded my brother to first-class and treated him like royalty [Applause] so he's fooled a lot of people but I will tell you one person they cannot fool I have spent my life getting to know the two Anthony's so when either one of them calls me in the first two seconds of the phone conversation I know exactly which Anthony I'm talking to and the reason why I know even though they sound so similar the reason why I know is because I've spent my life getting to know what their voice sounds like you need to know that there is an enemy of your soul this ain't a playground y'all this is a battlefield there is an enemy that is trying to do everything he can to deceive you and to cause you to not know what God's will is for your life and the Bible says in 2nd Corinthians 11:14 that he disguises himself like an angel of light he doesn't come to you with a red jumpsuit on in a pitchfork and say hey it's me he disguises himself so that he looks and sounds as close as he can and his will for you sounds and looks as close as it can possibly be to God's will for you so what we need is God to help us discern not just between good and evil we need him to help us discern between good and almost good and the way we do that is by leaning in to the voice of God by getting to know the way he speaks by getting to know the way he handled situations just like the one we're in right now What did he say back then to other people what's his personality we get that in the scriptures cuz you know how you have that friend when she calls you or he calls you the very fact that it is 6:30 in the morning lets you know that it has got to be this particular friend because the only one that would have the nerve to call you at this ungodly hour has got to be that friend and when you answer the phone they don't have to go into a big explanation of who they are and where y'all met and how long you've been in a friendship together you know them so well that just the way they're breathing on the phone lets you know that it's them because you've spent so much time getting to know them the more you know God the more clearly you can hear God I am and I said this this morning in Sunday worship services I am completely stunned completely beyond myself and beside myself that the god of the universe wants to get to know me he cares enough about me to know my personality and where I am in my life and the journey that I'm on and the doubts that I may be having the difficulties that I'm experiencing and yet he still chooses to call me his friend and to have relationship with me I'm stunned by the fact that he knows me do you get the fact that he is high and lifted up but but but he chooses to be if relationship with us he is the first and the last the beginning in the end he's the keeper of creation and the creator of all he's the architect of the universe and the manager of all time he always was always is always will be unmoved unchanged undefeated and never undone he was bruised but brought even he was pierced but he's pain he was persecuted but brought freedom he was dead and brings life he has arisen to bring power and he reigns to bring peace the world can't understand him armies can't defeat him leaders can't discount him and no one can explain him away he's liked he has longevity and he is the Lord he is goodness and kindness and faithfulness and he is God he is holy and righteous and powerful and pure his ways are rights his will unchanging his word is true and his mind is on us I can't believe that a God that great would have his mind on little old me and you there's a relationship my sheep there's a result they hear my voice there's a reason he says because I know you and there's a Riz a response the response is they follow me they follow me there's only one appropriate response when you hear the voice of God listen delayed obedience is disobedience there's kind of not neutral ground once you hear the voice of God you're either gonna move forward in obedience or you're not but any response other than obedience is an inappropriate response to the voice of God he does not speak to be heard he speaks to be obeyed and the reason why he speaks is because he is like the control tower when an airplane takes off the pilot does not just trust in their own visibility to guide the plane they have constant connection with a control tower because the control tower has the capacity to see way beyond what it is that the pilot in their limited scope and limited perspective is able to see so they stay in contact with the control tower because the control tower is able to keep them from disasters that they don't even know are possible because of their narrow view point when the God speaks to you it's because he's the control tower he sees stuff your narrow viewpoint my narrow viewpoint cannot see and when respond in obedience even though it doesn't make sense at the time when you respond to Nobby D&C you have no idea the disasters that you've circumvented because you just you just said yes Lord and responded in obedience to God in Jesus's day when the Shepherd calls his sheep the Sheep didn't debate with the shepherd they didn't negotiate with the shepherds they didn't ignore the shepherd they just went where he led them why because they believed that he was a good shepherd they believe that whatever pasture he was taking them to was better off than the one they were in even if the one they were in still had some green grass that they could not there was still some fresh pools of water there that they could refresh their thirst on it still looked to them like this pasture was just fine but if the Shepherd said let's go they believe that where he must be taking them was better off than where they were so it didn't make sense but the Sheep would just follow because they believed they had a good shepherd John chapter 10 says he is your good shepherd the book of Hebrews takes it a step further than that and says he ain't just good he is your great Shepherd that if you can't trust any body else you need to trust the leading of God in your life no matter how big the decision is or what you sense God is telling you to do or how small and insignificant you think it might be when God speaks our response is to be obedient to what it is that God is telling us to do my sheep hear my voice I know them and they follow me y'all remember the late great Michael Jackson I'm sure y'all don't try to act holy y'all know Michael Jackson I was watching a documentary there have been so many done on Michael Jackson I was watching this documentary and the director of the Billie Jean video y'all remember Billie Jean the director of the video was being interviewed about his direction and production of the Billie Jean video he they asked him what was it like to work with Michael and to talk about different scenes and different experiences shooting that video and he said something really interesting he said there's a particular scene in the Billie Jean video where Michael Jackson is walking up and down and dancing up and down this pathway and every place that Michael would step one light up on the path you remember that the square would light up every time he stepped on it he said this was a real interesting portion of the video to shoot because I had to pull Z Michael Jackson aside and say listen like we know you are a great dancer we know you can dance all over this little pathway in fact we know you could dance all over this entire studio you are amazing we've got it but you need to know that if you want this video to work right I have already gone before you and pre meant certain squares and if you want this video to look the way we want it to look then you're gonna have to rein in all of your dancing and just step on the squares where I've already put the lights otherwise all of your energy all of your efforts are all going to be wasted because the past will not light up so many tons in my life and maybe even in yours we're expending all of this effort and energy our gifts our talents our abilities and we feel frustrated and overwhelmed because the path is not lighting up could it be because we've not taken time to turn aside to the director and say would you please show me what you have already pre licked the Bible says he has already gone before you and prepared good work so that you might walk in then when you and I listened to the voice of God then we have the privilege to know what he's already pre licked and then we can use the gifting of God the talent of God the energy that God has given each and every one of us to step on the squares that he's gone before us to light up then we'll see the illumination of the favor of God the illumination of the power of God the presence of God the peace of God in our path because we took time to hear the voice of God my sheep hear my voice I know them and they follow me I want you to bow your heads with me because I asked you a very very important question at the beginning of the message and I'm gonna ask it to you again because we can't hear a message like this and and not respond to hear the voice of God you got to be one of his sheep and I just wonder if there might be anybody in the room after we've experienced such a profound encounter with the presence of God in our worship and now we have heard him speak to us so clearly about the privilege that we have to hear the voice of God I just wonder if there might be anybody in the room who has never come into relationship with God through Jesus Christ you want more than anything to know God's direction his leading in your life you want more than anything to hear and know the voice of God in your existence but you're not in relationship with him and you want to fix that right now you don't want to go one more day without being able to have the Holy Spirit so that you can hear God's voice if you have never placed faith in Jesus Christ but you want to make that decision today while every head is bowed and eyes are closed would you just lift your hand and lift your eyes so that my eyes meet yours and I know that's a decision that you need to make is there anybody is there anybody that your heart is burning right now because you know the Lord is asking you to respond anyone need to receive Jesus Christ to Saviour tonight we'll wait for you this is the best decision that you will ever make yes ma'am I see you up there yes anybody else just wave at me until I see your hand anybody else need to receive Jesus Christ as Savior tonight yes I see you over there sir yes I see you fantastic so many of you want to receive Jesus Christ I see you in the blue right there yes who else needs to receive Jesus Christ as Savior and I just wave at me I don't want to miss your hands just 30 more seconds anybody else you need to receive Jesus Christ as Savior I see you yes I see you fantastic anybody else you want to make a decision to come into relationship with Jesus Christ you want to be a part of the family of God it's the most important decision you'll ever make yes ma'am yes fantastic who else needs to come into the family of God yes ma'am yes I see you who else wave at me ten more seconds who else needs to receive Jesus Christ as Savior in just a couple of minutes I am or a couple seconds really I'm gonna ask everybody to stand to their feet and when I do those of you that waved at me those of you that raised your hands I want you don't even think twice about this don't spend too much time talking yourself out of it as soon as we all stand to our feet would you just race down here to the altar we're going to pray with you and for you and we're going to celebrate the fact that you have come into the family of God when I count to three as everybody would stand 1 2 3 come down to receive Jesus Christ as Savior Jesus come on down that's fantastic this is a great day to come into the family of God come on down thank you come on across God should be embarrassed you come come on help me to celebrate those that are coming amen amen even if you didn't raise your hand but you know the Holy Spirit is burning on the Holy Spirit is the one that causes you to even want to be in relationship with God if you're sensing a bringing in your heart or an uneasiness and you wish that I would just stop talking and move on with the message then it's you that needs to come down to receive Jesus Christ to save you've got 10 more seconds anybody else need to run forward run forward to become a part of the family of God tonight God has never loved anybody as much as he loves you right now my friend every single tear that falls from your eyes he sees every single one of them you need to know that he knows you he knew you would be here tonight that this would be the message he knew today was yo day my friend and he is celebrating the fact that today you were placing faith in Him and when we pray this prayer it's not just about just about praying it with your mouth the Bible says you you you you pray with your mouth you confess with your mouth but you believe it in your heart and when you do you're part of the family of God in that instance the Holy Spirit of God takes up residence right on the inside of you and begins the work of conforming you into the image of Christ Jesus so I'm gonna pray a prayer would you all just join together in faith let's just all prayers pray this prayer together and a faith filled atmosphere you all pray this and believe it in your heart Lord Jesus I am a sinner in need of a savior so today I place faith in Jesus Christ as my savior take up residence in me in the person of the Holy Spirit right now in Jesus name Lord I devote these that have come to you and I pray that their lives will be brand spanking new laughter today Lord speak to them so clearly that they will never doubt again that they are part of the family of God in Jesus name

Channel: Going Beyond Ministries with Priscilla Shirer

Views: 1,362,838

Keywords: priscilla shirer, priscilla shirer sermons, priscilla shirer sermon, priscilla shirer 2023, priscilla shirer sermons 2023, priscilla shirer armor of god, priscilla shirer identity in christ, priscilla shirer prayer, priscilla shirer bible study, going beyond ministries with priscilla shirer, going beyond ministries, hearing the voice of god priscilla shirer, discerning the voice of god priscilla shirer, priscilla shirer hearing the voice of god, tbn priscilla shirer, bible, jesus

Id: Ewi2iTi3Ec8

Length: 54min 27sec (3267 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 24 2017